This is what fans and media saw for two hours the other day I actually missed Jay Cutler getting hurt and him being pulled. Therefore, I came into the game A) not realizing that Cutler was "hurt"; and B) not able to easily figure out why he wasn't in the game to begin with.
Watching him on the sideline, looking at his stats, I thought he was pulled for being ineffective. He was on the sideline, with his pads on (or so it looked ... he was wearing a coat) and he was looking disgusted. If not disinterested.
I thought he was pulled for basically all of the third and fourth quarter.
Then I found out he was injured and I quickly realized, "Oh no. He's not going to last in Chicago." I automatically knew that fans and media would scrutinize him to death, possibly not allowing him to ever to really recover emotionally.
I, too, questioned his ... not his toughness ... but his motivation.
There's little doubt that Cutler is tough because he plays quarterback in the NFL behind one of the worst lines in the NFL. He played in the SEC. He's tough.
But is he motivated? Frankly, that's been a question hovering over Cutler his entire career.
Since, we've learned that Cutler has a partially torn MCL, that he went to dinner Sunday night and that he climbed stairs to get there.
Here's the real problem: Teams do not fully understand the TV and Internet media generation. These days, we have cameras everywhere. Somewhere, someone is catching Mark Sanchez put a booger on Mark Brunell's jacket or Lindsay Lohan stumble drunk out of a club. It's unavoidable.
Bill Simmons, the ESPN columnist, has noted for years that NFL teams should hire "Madden coordinators" -- 20 somethings that have played thousands of hours of Madden and know how to manage a clock, call timeouts, challenge plays and go for a two-point conversion.
I think teams need to hire Quality PR Control Coordinators.
If I were the Chicago Bears Quality PR Controll Coordinator, I would have done several things:
1. Go into locker room and assess the situation. Determine whether Cutler was returning.
2a. Upon learning he wasn't, I would have Cutler put into a very noticable walking boot, hand him crutches or put a fake cast on his leg.
or
2b. Or I walk Cutler out before the second half, have him trying to run around or throwing a ball and grimacing painfully. Make sure the cameras catch it or get a Flip camera and film it myself. Once this happens, I go back into the lockerroom and give him crutches and a walking boot or brace.
3. I'd instruct Cutler to exaggerate the limp.
4. I tell Cutler and a trainer to have an exaggerated argument, presumably about being held out. I tell said trainer to track down Pam Oliver and "leak" that Cutler wanted to go back into the game but the training staff wouldn't allow it.
5. I hand him a headset and clipboard. I tell him to slap asses, high five. Put your arms around a guy and talk to him. Take Caleb Hanie aside and talk to him. I don't care about what. Maybe how True Grit was your favorite film of the year. Who cares? Act interested. Act demonstrative.
You might say that I'm being ridiculous. I'm not. This is why companies hire public relations professionals. This is why the Bears hire public relations professionals.
Teams think these people are useful in getting media out to an event or helping control the press when some player beats up a girlfriend or is caught with weed at the airport.
No. These people should be on the sidelines controlling perception. Not reality.
You can have a website, a Facebook page and a Twitter feed, but you may not know just how others (fans, media) use it as a window into what is real.
If the Bears had hired me, Cutler would be a hero.
